The Future of Religion in Asia

THE FUTURE OF RELIGION IN ASIA BY DALJIT SINGH SADHARIA ASIA today is the scene of remarkable changes. She is passing through a great period of transition and is undergoing a proc- ess of unique transformation. The currents of poHtical, social, religious, economic, and intellectual upheavals are of such dynamic energy and titanic proportions that it would not be the least ex- aggeration to call them a new era in her history. There have been crises in history but none comparable to the present drama in the East. The stilled waters of Oriental life were stirred to their verv depths by forces operating within and from without. Nine hundred million people are animated by new ideas and aspirations and are in the midst of stupendous changes. The doctrines of liberty and self- determination are permeating the minds of the educated classes and are fast taking possession of the masses. A tide of nationalism, a new phenomenon in the East, is sweeping over the whole con- tinent and is becoming a sort of religious cult. Age-long traditions and beliefs are receding into the background, vanishing in the twinkling of an eye before the onrush of modern ideas. The East is moving so fast that in comparison Europe and America seem to be standing still. No such phrases as ''the unchanging East" and "Better Fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Catha\" can now justly be applied to her.' Asia has fully awakened from the lethargy of centuries, and the twentieth century is destined to witness a colossal change in the sphere of world politics and a radical modification of the mentality of the East. One of the most portentous convulsions in present day Asia is undoubtedly a religious one. For centuries the Oriental, like the Europeans of the Middle Ages, had drawn their moral ideas from the supposed revealed scriptures and had regulated their lives ac- cording to their teachings. Religion had provided them with a ; 316 THE OPEN COURT cosmolog}'—an explanation of historic evolution, an interpretation of the meaning of life and a rule of conduct—and had satisfied their ponderous longing for the supernatural by the promise of a prospective immortality. For centuries the Orientals had inscribed faith at the head of their table of values and in all the departments of their life and activity had willingly submitted to the will of God and tradition. Even the very structure of Eastern society is determined by dogma and religious authority. The savage caste system of India is the direct product of Brahmanism; the demoral- izing conservatism of China is the outgrowth of Confucian ethics the Japanese emperor worship has its roots in Shintoism ; and the institution of Khilafat owes its origin to Islam. There is no de- partment of Oriental life which directly and indirectly is not moulded and dominated by religion. Even the smallest details of every day life such as eating, drinking, sleeping, loving, and dress- ing have been regulated by religion, which has compelled men and women, like a child in leading strings, to walk always in the direc- tion in which it would pull them. But this has changed, and in a short space of time Eastern thought has undergone an intellectual revolution. The spread of scientific civilization, the introduction of Western secular education in the schools and colleges, the growth of industrialism, the rise of nationalism, and above all the importation of the discoveries and results of modern science in the East have combined to shake the foundation of religion and to undermine the hold of the old antiquated theological formulas on the minds of the younger gen- eration. The sacred books, which are a mere collection of strange revelation, miracles, illogical statements, and allegorical dogmas, do not and cannot stand the test of the merciless logic of modern science, nor can they meet the requirements of the strict canons of historical criticism. They were composed in an age when the intellectual level of mankind was at its lowest; when man thought himself surrounded by an endless chaos of phenomena which he could not explain or understand; when every uncomprehended phenomenon was considered to be presided over by some mysterious power; when the ever active stream of mental reflexes was imagined to be the wanderings of a restless soul ; and when experimental knowledge was wholly non-existent. It is no wonder that tradi- tional religion as a whole has suffered at the hands of modern sci- THE FUTURE OF RELIGION IN ASIA 317 ence and is perishing before her inexorable and irresistible advance. The Oriental students who are learning the Darwinian theory of evolution cannot accept the fantastic theory of creation as ex- j)ounded in their sacred books. Can any rational being subscribe to the theory of Brahmanical mythology which alleges that four castes have been issued from the mouth, arms, thighs, and feet of the great Brahma ; or to the Mohammedan theory of creation, which asserts that mankind has been fashioned out of dust by a God magician. Such absurd notions were satisfactory when mankind was passing through the crudest forms of animistic beliefs and had not advanced beyond the stage of theological knowledge. They are becoming a laughing stock in the eyes of the cultured classes and are fated to vanish like the shadow of night before the radiance of dawn. The introduction of modern science in the East is bring- ing about tremendous changes in the mental outlook of the people and is striking a death blow at the old w^orn-out superstitions and untenable religious beliefs. The two great Eastern countries which have definitely set themselves against old traditions and religious authority are China and Turkey. The religious revolution in Turkey is unquestionably one of the most significant events in the history of Lslam in particu- lar and in the religious history of mankind in general. Mohamme- danism has justly been regarded as the most inflexible of all the great religions of the world and the most impervious to change. Since its beginnings it has never undergone any serious modification in its theology, creed or doctrines, and has never yielded to new ideas. But modern science and European rationalism have at last succeeded in making serious breeches in its steeled ramparts and have begun the disintegration of its whole inner structure. Turkey, led by one of the most impressive and dominating personalities of modern times, has practically broken away from Islamic traditions and has definitely turned her face for guidance in matters ethical, social, material, and intellectual, not towards Mecca, but towards Paris. She has separated Church and State and has secularized her political and social institutions in an immeasurably short time. She has abolished Khilafat, regarded by all believers as one of the cardinal institutions of the Islamic faith ; has ignominiously banished Khalifa, the spiritual head of the ^Mohammedan world : has put an end to dervish orders, by a single stroke of the pen ; and has con- — 318 THE OPEN COURT temptuously set aside the Koranic law in favor of the Swiss civil code. The old religious schools, in which Koran and the sayings of the Prophet formed the sole curriculum of education, have been converted into secular schools in which such useful subjects as modern science, economics, political science, modern history and philosophy and European languages, especially French, are taught. No longer wnll the Turkish student rack his brain over superstitious religious formulas and waste his mental energies by memorizing the primitive Arabian texts, but will study the doctrines of the eight- eenth century scientific conceptions of man and the universe, the politics of Cavour and Bismarck, and the latest developments in international politics. The younger generations of Turkey which are now brought up in an atmosphere of secular education will have no use for theological subtleties and Koranic exegesis. The men who at present are controlling the destinies of the Turkish Republic and are moulding the thought and life of the Turkish youth are schooled in the doctrines of Diderot, La Mettrie, Hel- vetius, and Holbach and are imbued with the radical French thought. They may not set up Goddess of Reason as the state religion of the New Turkey like their French predecessors, but they are fully determined to extirpate the old religious beliefs from the popular mind. Their attitude towards religion is revealed clearly in The Book of Miistapha Kemal, by Abel Adam, published last year and now the best seller in the New Turkey. The main theme of the work is a comparison of Asian and European mentality and a strong plea for the adoption of a scientific view of life. It holds up religion to execration and brands the Koran, the Bible of the Mohamme- dans, with the stigma of black book. The author says that the Moslem mentality of Turkey must be utterly destroyed and the European mentality with its scientific and secular spirit must be adopted. The crusade against religion in China is far more aggressive and destructive than in any other Oriental country, not excepting Tur- key. The Chinese "Hsin Chao:" "The New Tide of Thought," is emphatically an anti-religious movement and is frankly committed to the destruction of religious beliefs. It allows no tradition religious, ethical, social, or political—to pass unchallenged and demands that every accepted belief or idea must present a rational argument for its right to exist. It recognizes no tabus and no THE FUTURE OF RELIGION IN ASIA 319 inhibitions. Reason is its highest tribunal of appeal, and the methods of modern science are its sole criteria of truth.

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